


Maybe This Time

by hummdrumlife



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-04 18:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummdrumlife/pseuds/hummdrumlife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Sam moved to New York City from Tennessee his sophomore year of high school after his mom met a British businessman on a trip to visit her sister and fell in love, finally deciding to remarry.  The move brought with it a whole lot that was new, including a new, older step-brother named Adam.  Now, Sam is joining Adam at NYADA for his first year and Adam's last.  Sam actually liked his new step-brother a lot.  Until Kurt Hummel came between them.  Varied ratings for different chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sam had expected the crowds, the noise, the size, and the bustle of NYADA. After all, he'd been living and going to school in New York City for three years already; you get used to side-stepping to avoid getting squashed or stepped on, and those skills are definitely coming in handy during his first week of college. He can weave with the best of 'em. And he'd been skulking around the school for awhile anyway - he knows the layout pretty good. So all of that's, yeah, cool, expected. What he hadn't expected, though, was how... small and lonely he'd suddenly feel. He hadn't run with performer types in high school - he found his crowd through sports, mostly - so he's really starting out fresh here. As he dodges a girl who goes running into a collective group hug by a nearby cafe, Sam watches with a weird sort of emptiness. He could have a readymade group of friends here too, if he gets really desperate. He has those connections, and it's not like he'd _totally_ hate the idea, but...

He wants to do this on his own. He's in student housing so he's relatively independent, he's got a job at a comic book store in Soho, he can manage making friends. How hard could it be?

Turns out, super hard. Anytime he tries making eye contact with someone, he feels sort of like he's intruding and the feeling makes his smile come out all funny and they usually get freaked out and find someone else to walk with them. In between two of his classes, Sam realizes that, yeah, he really needs someone to talk to, or at least someone to sit with while he eats his sandwiches at lunch. So he approaches one of the pillars in the common area, plastered with signs for clubs and extracurricular activities and tries to find something he could at least pretend to be interested in. It's when he's scanning over the description of the rock climbing club that he sees him.

A guy, at the pillar next to him, arms folded across his chest as he frowns at each sign in turn. Sam recognizes him, but it takes him a minute to figure out why. His whole family'd gone out to the Winter Showcase, as they always do (they're a NYADA family to the core, after all), and this guy had gotten called up, even though he didn't even go here yet. And he'd sung "Being Alive" and everybody'd started crying and there'd been a standing ovation and he'd deserved it. I mean, even Sam's chest had started feeling seriously funny around the middle of it and he's not usually someone who gets drama. He's more the comedy/action type. Anyway, this guy... this guy had blown everyone away and obviously got in and now he's standing right there and Sam is staring.

Wow, staring a lot, okay. Sam looks back at his own pillar quickly and reaches up to mush the navy wool beanie on his head back and forth nervously, hoping he hadn't been noticed. Seems like it's cool. This guy's just really unique looking. Sam's never seen anyone like him, he's all... pointy. But not the way that sounds, like he's just made in a really interesting way? That sounds weird too. There's just something about him that just draws eyes to him, and makes him stand out, and Sam starts sneaking more looks, circling around the back of the pillar to peer around it. His name is something like with a C or a K... Cam. Chr...and. That's not a name. Coors. That's a beer. K...urt. Kurt, Kurt Hummel. Yeah.

 _Kurt Hummel_. Sam says it in his mind as he watches the guy run a thin finger down the names on another sign-up sheet and purse his lips. Something feels like it gets warm inside of Sam, warm and tense - probably hope, that's probably what that is. I mean, he's looking at the sheets. He doesn't have anyone with him. Maybe... big shot or not, he could use somebody to talk to, just like him.

He's gonna go for it. Sam straightens up and puts a tentative smile on his lips and circles around so he can come up behind Kurt rather than freaking him out right away. It's all in the timing, so he goes kind of slow, which means he's only just opened his mouth to say hey when he hears Kurt mumble to himself.

"What's... Adam's Apples..."

Sam deflates a little and ends up responding instinctively, even though it's not what he would have chosen to open with.

"Yeah, that's the show choir."

Kurt starts a little and turns and Sam is suddenly looking him right in the eyes and, oops, too startled by that for a second to remember to smile. Sam turns it on again when he realizes, although it's sort of lopsided. "NYADA's. It's sort of cool, although a lot of people here give them crap, since... you know, college show choir."

Kurt blinks and lifts his brows, giving his new random conversation partner a thoughtful nod. "Mm. And I get the feeling 'a lot of people here' limit their extracurriculars to testing resume fonts and speed pirouette competitions."

Sam snorts a little, surprised. Kurt's joking with him. Good sign. At least, it seems like a joke; Kurt seems to be good at that dry, sarcastic humor that sometimes goes over Sam's head. It gives him the courage to stick his hand out, anyway.

"Hey, I'm Sam. I'm new too."

Kurt's lip quirks up in the corner and he slides his hand into Sam's more slowly, giving it a shake. One of his eyebrows goes up. It's cool he can do that. It makes him look like a supervillain. Sam is staring again, and also noticing how ridiculously smooth Kurt's palms are - like, girl-smooth. Maybe that would be part of his villain powers, like he's secretly evil but he seems all defenseless and... smooth. The idea needs work. Later, when he's not so distracted.

"'Too'? What gave me away," Kurt asks, bringing Sam back down to earth. He smiles again as their hands part and he shoves his into the pocket of his jeans.

"I saw you sing. At the showcase. I mean, most people here probably know about you."

Kurt laughs this time, and rolls his eyes, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. "I wouldn't count on that."

Sam's eyes widen and he shakes his head. "No, dude. Seriously, you rocked. You got a standing ovation and you didn't even go here yet, you know how rare that is?"

Kurt's semi-self-effacing modesty is struck down by Sam's enthusiasm and he looks away with another shake of his head, although his smile is clearly proud. Sam doesn't know what he did to make Kurt smile like that, but it's good, and he instantly feels a surge of pride. He wants to keep doing that. He wants to keep making Kurt smile like that, it would just be a good thing to do. This should work.

Which means, he needs to keep it going. Which means...

"Look, don't join the Apples."

Kurt looks back at Sam and blinks again, his smile turning to confusion. Sam's voice had come out sounding sort of pleading. Kurt's chin tilts.

"Because of the reputation? I'm not a stranger to judgment, believe me, I can handle it."

"No, not... cause of that, those people are dumb anyway." Sam looks away and shifts back and forth on his feet nervously. "Just... the Apples are cool and all, but they tend to kind of take over your life, and I know. I mean, the guy who runs the Apples is-"

"Incredibly charismatic, handsome, and standing right behind you?"

Shit. Sam tenses as Adam strides up beside them, grinning in that way that makes his eyes get super shiny and he's directing it right at Kurt. Adam's hands are both in his back pockets and he stops beside Sam and Kurt, looking back and forth between them as he lifts up onto his toes and then settles back down.

"My ears were burning. Only good things, I hope?" Without waiting for an answer, Adam turns toward Kurt and, if possible, his smile widens even further as he reaches out for his hand.

"You're Kurt Hummel, rising star of the Winter Showcase. Your performance there was..." Sam tries not to scowl too obviously as Adam's expression becomes sincere and he shakes his head in awe toward Kurt. "Breathtaking. The Apples would love to have you. No, strike that... we _need_ to have you."

Sam feels like he's shrinking, and what makes it worse, is that Kurt seems to have straightened his spine and widened his eyes and smiled more and more as Adam spoke, and now _Kurt's_ eyes are doing the sparkling thing, and it's like Sam isn't even here. Kurt takes Adam's hand and Adam shakes it firmly.

"I'm... sorry, you are..." Kurt murmurs, the words trailing off curiously. 

"Adam Evans-Crawford, senior and fearless leader of the Adam's Apples. And this..."

Adam reaches out and squashes the beanie down onto Sam's head and tussles it, and he's done it a million times before and it's usually fine, but right now it's really, really not for some reason. Sam jerks his head away as soon as he can, eyes kind of narrow.

"This is my little step-brother, Sammy."

"Jeez, will you quit it," Sam mutters, but nobody's listening. Kurt's eyes are lighting up as he looks back and forth between them, pointing at each in turn. 

"Step-brothers! Oh, that's... I have one too. Well, not here. Back home."

Adam is lighting up too. Everybody's lighting up. It's like watching Christmas tree lights blinking at each other.

"You do too! That's... amazing. You have to tell me more, I want to know everything about you, because I have a feeling... that you are destined to be an Apple, Kurt Hummel, and I will not take no for an answer." 

Adam's voice drops a little and his smile turns into a smirk and that's when it really hits Sam that Adam is _flirting_ with Kurt. This isn't just his usual back and forth, this is... this is like how Adam was with that guy he brought home for Christmas that one time. And Kurt, Kurt is into it, he has to be, because he's still smiling and it looks flattered and Sam, for some weird reason, feels like he wants to throw up. He looks back and forth between them and finally, finally, finds his voice again.

"You know, you don't have to say yes. He doesn't mean that, I mean, if you want to think about it..."

Kurt blinks as Sam breaks the moment and he tears his eyes away from Adam to look at Sam and then back. "...He's right. I shouldn't rush into anything, but I'll think about it."

"You can think about it while you watch us practice." Adam is back to oozing confidence and it kills Sam to know how much of it is staged. What kills him more, though, is the way Adam reaches out and just takes Kurt's hand, just like that, and begins to tug him gently toward the auditorium and Kurt follows, that coy tilt to his lips again, and it's done.

Sam watches them stumbling away for a second but then looks away and starts to head down the hall. He shouldn't have tried. Kurt and Adam, that makes sense, yeah. Cause Kurt's so talented, and Adam's so talented. And now it's not like Kurt'll have time to make friends, because the Apples stick together, and Adam's _so_ fascinating, and a laugh from Kurt carries across the room and makes Sam's heart sink into his stomach with a splash. 

But a second later, he hears Kurt's voice, and he's saying his name, and Sam turns around so fast he might have gotten whiplash.

"Sam! Wait."

Kurt is jogging across the room and Sam doesn't even notice his step-brother watching in the background, because Kurt is pulling out his phone and smiling and it's not for Adam this time at all.

Kurt shrugs with one shoulder as he stops in front of Sam as if suddenly hit with a wave of self-consciousness. "I thought... we could exchange numbers. I haven't met that many people here yet, and it would be nice to know someone just as lost as I am." Kurt's voice becomes vaudeville-teasing at the end and he finishes with a humming laugh that makes Sam smile again. Yeah, he's funny. Sam was right about that. He's funny, and cool. And he came back.

Sam fumbles to yank his own cell out of his bag and he and Kurt exchange digits. Kurt mentions meeting up to talk about classes some time and it sounds casual, but it makes Sam suddenly warm and hopeful again, enough that when Kurt waves and goes jogging back to Adam, he doesn't mind so much.

It isn't over yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt is late for his third coffee meeting (not date) with Sam Evans. He's also still wearing his sweats and tank from dance class and his hair is an unholy mess and he knows that the faces of those he squirms past are reflecting his current body odor status, but.

Well, it's Sam. And even if he's only known Sam for a couple of weeks, he already feels as if there's a comfort level there. Sam is not the type to judge him for some unfortunate smelling gym clothes, and Kurt doesn't feel as if he has to... impress Sam? To be honest, it's what makes him know that this is a friendship that he wants to hold on to, at all costs, because it's a rare feeling at NYADA. This isn't the sort of place that you take feeling... well, safe, for granted in.

He finally rounds the corner of the cafe and sees Sam poking at a smoothie with his straw and blinking around at the crowd. Kurt chuckles and rolls his eyes as he comes to a stop and then collapses into the chair across from Sam.

"Sorry, I know, I know, late. Nobody could land the grand jete, which meant overtime." Kurt notices the coffee already sitting in front of his chair and his spine straightens, his smile becoming pleased and crooked as he lifts his eyes from the cup to Sam. "Aww. You remembered."

Sam seems a little flustered, although Kurt's getting the impression that that's the normal state of things with Sam. Sam looks at the cup and then at Kurt and then at Kurt's outfit and then at the cup and tries to say something but just winces and shrugs instead, grinning awkwardly. Kurt laughs again and leans back, sighing to catch his breath and crossing his legs.

"Also, yes, I do admittedly smell like a horse. You'll have to put up with me, though, because caffeine sounds like big fluffy heaven right about now." He scoops up the cup and sucks down his sugary nectar of the gods. Sam seems to finally get his voice back after another shrug.

"No. S'cool, I mean. You look fine, I think. Good." Sam stabs at unblended chunks of his smoothie again and Kurt smiles with gratitude at the clearly disingenuous compliment that he appreciates regardless. He's finally recovered his own composure from the run enough to now pay attention to his surroundings.

Sam looks nice. Actually, very nice - _he_ clearly didn't just come from a workout. He also took the hint Kurt dropped last time about leaving the beanie wearing to his stepbrother, and Sam's hair is brushing the tops of his ears now, very throwback to early DiCaprio. And blue is definitely his color - the long-sleeved tee is bringing out Sam's eyes. Kurt's gaze traces down from Sam's downturned brow to those wide lips and that's when he realizes that he needs to stop. He is not that kind of gay friend, the one you can't take anywhere because he's always sizing up every Y chromosome in the surrounding area. Besides, as distracting as it is and as much as Kurt has to forcibly avert his eyes when Sam finally wraps those lips around the wide straw of his smoothie, Kurt has other things on his mind.

One thing - one person - in particular. Who has been after him for the past week about the Apples, stopping him in the hallways, luring him with scripts and song concepts, cooing at him in that swoon-worthy accent and paying Kurt just enough attention that it's making his head spin. But it's all been very surface level so far, nobody's taken an extra step quite yet, which makes this meeting ideal, really.

Kurt tucks his bottom lip briefly between his teeth and then leans forward as he releases it, voice lowering.

"Sam. We're friends, aren't we?"

Sam's eyes lift from his long pull at his smoothie and he blinks at Kurt before setting it down. 

"Yeah. Yeah, dude, of course. You're like... my best friend here."

He sounds so genuinely enthusiastic that even Kurt is taken momentarily by surprise and Sam rushes to amend the statement. 

"I mean, I barely know anybody. Except, you know." 

Sam rolls his eyes and Kurt takes his cue, his shoulders drawing up with excitement and his eyebrows lifting.

"Adam. Which is what I wanted to ask you about."

Sam's frowns in a way that Kurt assumes is curious. Kurt scootches forward until he's perched on the edge of his seat and folds his hands around his coffee cup, giving Sam his best confidential girl-talk face. It's still difficult to say. This is going to be awkward for both of them, but something has to give here.

"Is your step-brother..." Just say it. Kurt breathes in, darts a look down at his wrists and then looks at Sam again. "Is he... gay?"

Sam sits back in his chair when Kurt finally says it, exhaling and slouching down into it like he's melting - how do jocks instinctively know the best way to turn every chair into a La-Z-Boy. He hesitates, but then grins unevenly and with weird tension in the corners that Kurt chalks up to the at least semi-awkward conversation topic.

"Adam? Yeah, I mean. Yeah. Totally."

Kurt breathes out a sigh of relief and shoots Sam a brilliant smile in thanks, straightening in his chair again and chuckling. "Oh, thank god."

Sam stabs with his straw again. "So that's happening, huh. You're into him."

Kurt's high-pitched laugh bubbles over the other conversations in the cafe and he clutches his coffee in toward his chest, looking down at his knee.

"It isn't... anything, really. We don't have to talk about it, I doubt you want to hear about your step-brother and-"

Kurt's hand flutters nervously in the air as he rolls his eyes and trails off, and he misses Sam's flinch. 

"You don't... seriously, Kurt, you don't have to do that." Sam's lips thin but then he looks at Kurt, meeting his surprised eyes with absolute sincerity. "Dude, you can tell me anything. Anytime. I want you to trust me. Like I trust you."

For a moment, Kurt feels... what is it? It's like a thickness settling into the bottom of his stomach that's warm and terrifying but still incredible, and it originates in Sam's eyes on him, wide and angel-blue. _That's not fair,_ Kurt's this close to actually whining. How many times has someone looked at him with that light in their eyes, and Sam doesn't even realize he's doing it or how it's making Kurt swallow and lose the ability to speak.

But then. Well. Who's looked at him like that? Adam has. Kurt blinks rapidly and remembers Adam leaning against the wall beside him, his eyes tracing Kurt's face as Kurt tried desperately to think of any innocent reason for Adam to be quite so inside his personal space. Adam, the charismatic and older and talented and extremely hot British man who is _actually gay_ and who might even be actually interested, no matter how hard that is to believe. Adam makes him feel special in a way no one ever has before. Adam makes him feel important. Adam gives him hope.

The silence has become horrifically protracted, but Kurt is still struck mute, so Sam is the one who finally breaks it with a campy grin and a choked half-laugh. "No makeout talk though. Drawing the line."

Kurt's ears heat as he shakes his head, his laughter just as strained. "Oh god, no, no details. I don't even know if he's into me, really. I am seriously jumping the gun here. I'm vaulting it, really. He probably is like this with everyone."

"Trust me, he's into you." Sam's voice cuts abruptly into Kurt's babbled litany and Kurt looks surprised at its confidence. He leans in suddenly, conspiratorially quiet.

"How do you know? Did he say something about me? Did you ask him?"

Sam is the one who looks sort of red and uncomfortable now and, for a second, Kurt feels bad about pushing the boundaries on this whole step-brother thing, but then Sam blurts out, "You want me to?"

He really shouldn't say yes. That's asking too much. That's definitely crossing the line.

"... Would you?" Kurt smiles and deliberately tilts it with a coy plea, his hands clasped in front of him on the table. Yes, alright, it's wrong, but he could _know_ finally and stop torturing himself, and Sam _did_ offer. As soon as he can be sure that his little display has done its job and Sam is shrugging his acquiescence with a grin, Kurt reaches out to grab Sam's wrist and squeezes it in warning.

"But _don't_ be obvious about it, he can't know you're asking for me. Top secret, highly classified."

"Mission Impossible." Sam snorts, staring at Kurt's hand on his for what seems like a good minute before finally looking up again and smiling, his eyes gentle and amused. "Cool."

It's that look and the uncomfortable return of the warmth to his insides that makes Kurt repent of the hand-holding idea and he thanks Sam profusely, but then slides his fingers back across the table and into his lap. 

He changes subjects so that neither of them has the opportunity to think twice about this plan, either for him to reconsider using his new best friend like this or for Sam to reconsider asking his step-brother if he finds his new best friend hot. To be honest, it slips his mind more easily than expected. They get into a conversation about movies and Kurt admits to never actually seeing _Men In Black_ and Sam starts to fire off a dramatic retelling of the plot, complete with impressions, that leaves Kurt giggling at inappropriate volume levels and swatting at him from across the table, curled up on his chair with the force of his laughter. It isn't until Sam waves goodbye at him and Kurt turns toward the locker room that he remembers the mission and considers regretting it. 

But at least he could finally know. And maybe if the answer is yes, and something really does start up, it will set things straight (ba dum ching) between him and Sam. It's just pent up flirtation. Soon, hopefully, he'll find its appropriate outlet.


End file.
